Piccolli Problemi di Cuore
by Tachikawa Mimi
Summary: One of my incomplete Jyoumi ficcys - this takes place on the bus ride up to their camp. From Mimi-chan's POV. More of a comedy than romance, actually. It's really not romantic at all. ^^;


_Tachikawa Mimi-chan's  
"Unfinished Jyoumi"  
Series_

_This marks the beginning of a series of unfinished Jyoumi stories I have. Mainly because I'm so miserably stuck, and I need some serious help to get them back off the ground. I really enjoy what I do have of these stories, and I would love to continue them. What I request of you as a reader is to review these stories with suggestions of ways I can end these stories. If you have no idea what to do, I hope you enjoy these anyway. ^^;;_

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_Author's Note: A cultural thing: the character used for Jou's name is the kanji character for "woman". (For example, "o**jou**-sama" is Japanese for "my lady" or "mistress" or "princess"...) I went "awwww!" when I figured this out in my kanji study, I can't help but feel kinda sorry for him. (BTW, Mimi's name is written in Hiragana, so I don't think there's a multiple-meaning like there is for Jou's name...)_

Piccoli Problemi di Cuore  
(Heart's Little Problems)

  
My parents gave me a choice. I could either stay with my Aunt and Uncle for a wekk, or spend a week at a popular summer camp about two hours outside of town.

It wasn't that tough of a decision. I mean, my Aunt and Uncle had no kids. Just this obnoxious miniature poodle that followed me everywhere I went. Not much company.

Besides, I had never read a love story that took place at an Aunt and Uncle's house. Summer camp had possibilities! To make new friends!...but my thoughts were--to have a romantic summer affair!

Unrealistic, you say? Obviously you don't understand the mind of a fourth-grade girl! We're ready for the romantic scene! Our goal in life now is to have a romantic first kiss, get married, and live happily ever after by age sixteen!

And I was well on my way. I don't mean to brag, but my mother had taught me very well to take pride in my appearance. She occasionally has a word of wisdom, and once of her phrases has become my motto: "God looks at the heart, but in order for man to pay attention, you gotta catch their eye, first.". I was certain that I'd leave an impression on some guys there.

Boy, was I ever disappointed. I wanted to start crying the moment I stepped onto the bus. It was in utter chaos! Everyone was sitting with a friend, it seemed.

My mother was sniffling, telling me to share my new compass and things if someone else needed it. Daddy remined me that I needed to get to sleep at a reasonable hour.

I nodded, but their voices faded into the back of my head, I couldn't hep but notice the other kids. A red-headed girl with a blue hat (wasn't it a bit warm to be wearing such a thing?) was leaning over the back of her seat, talking to a creepy-looking blonde boy, and another boy with a serious head of thick brown hair. So what if he wore it wrong? It still was way thicker than mine...oh, I hate having fine hair!

Next to the girl was a tiny blonde boy, wearing a helmet...should I be worried? I certainly hope that didn't reflect the skills of our bus driver...later I found out that the helmet-kid was the older blonde's brother. Duh. Who else had blonde hair on the bus? I tell you, none.

I started down the aisle, doing my best to keep my feet from tripping up beneath me.

All of the seats looked filled as I passed them. I noticed a seat with only one kid in it. What luck! *

The boy had spiked red hair--and a mother-load of weird computer stuff taking up the other half of the seat. Huh. So much for a vacant space.

I continued down, and found a completely empty seat in the distance. It was on the back of the bus, and needless to say (well, I guess it does need to be said...), it was the bumpiest part of the vehicle.

I began to take my bag off my shoulder, and stopped when I realized there was someone on the seat. "Uh-"

This long-legged boy was stretched out on the seat, his legs bent up so he would fit on it without dangling over. He just barely lifted his head, his face a nauseating white color. I nearly began to feel motion sickness myself, he looked so ill...

"Oh, sorry. You need a seat..." he began to sit up.

"Ah-! No! No, that's okay!" I didn't want to be a bother, but moreso, I didn't want to have to be the one sitting next to him if he...y'know...got sick.

"Don't bother, I'm already up." he leaned against the window, and tried to look out to the horizon.

"..." I dunno, but he went through the trouble of getting up, I felt like I _owed_ him or something. So I sat next to him.

So?

I opened by bag to get out something to entertain myself. Snacks took up the majority of my bag's volume. I didn't know how bad the food at camp was going to be, so I made sure I was prepared.

I heard a sigh beside me, and I turned to look at the boy next to me. He had a pair of glasses on his face wchich rested kinda crookedly on his nose. His thick black hair wasn't cut unusually, he actually looked very conservative in his style. If he wasn't so gangly, he might've been able to pull it off. But boys don't start looking good until middle school anyway.

The boy looked to me, his dark eyes a bit sunk in. "No, I don't feel all right."

I blinked, and quirked an eyebrow. Uh...I don't remember asking.

"I have gone _four_ hours straight without getting car sick." the boy sounded proud of this, and then straightened his crooked glasses. "Tell me, do you ever get backaches walking up and down those steep hills you live on?"

...for a sick guy, he sure talked a lot. "Not really--"

"Too much walking on steep planes can cause premature collapse of lower vertebrae, leaving you in a wheelchair." the kid turned to me, and leaned over a bit. "And since you're a girl, that means that unless you make sure you get all of the calcium you need, you have an 80-percent chance of developing osteoperosis, thus heightening the risk of vertebrae collapse!"

...huh?

In the middle of me trying to figure out what nertebrae were, I realized that htis long-winded know-it-all was leaning forward in my face. In other words, there was some serious invasion of personal space going on.

I leaned back, and glared at him. "Stop breathing on me."

He pulled back. "Sorry."

Great. My first ten minutes of my romantic getaway, and I was hitting it off with an Asian Steve Urkell.

Okay, maybe he wasn't as geeky as _that_--

He sneezed, and rubbed his nose. "Great, with all of my allergies acting up, my sinusitis will go nuts..."

...but I bet he's contagious...

"Could I see that mirror you have?" the boy reached over for my compact mirror, and I didn't really resist him, although it did bug me.

He opened it, opened his mouth, and stuck out his tongue. "Uh-huh. Uh-huh..." He snapped it shut, and closed his mouth. He handed back my mirror. "My tonsils are inflamed on top of that."

Ew.

I put my mirror away slowly, and he continued talking to me, as if I cared or something.

"That settles it. I'm going to be stuck in bed at camp all week." he sat back, and rammed one of his feet against the back of the seat in front of us. "I _told_ Dad that it would be a waste, but would he listen? _Noooo_...I'm going to make him eat his words, I was right! I was right _all along_!"

"I'm Mimi." I leaned forward, and said the first thing I could think of to change the subject.

His expression was that of a fish who had been thrown out of the water. "Uh...Jou."

Huh? Jou? Oh! I get it! I must've charmed him to silence! Not much of a first goal, but I guess it's good enough for a warm-up...

"My name's Jou."

...answer me this--what cruel parent would give their little boy a name with the meaning "woman"? I mean, if he was some super-bishounen with broad shoulders and a strong chin, he could've gotten away with it.

"How old are you?"

"Huh?" he was still talking to me. Whoops. I must've zoned again.

"I'm twelve." the kid smiled at this. "I enter middle school next year."

"Oh." I simply replied. Oh, well. He had a year to go, still. "I'm ten."

Jou rose his eyebrows. "Ten, huh?" he looked back outside. "Wow, I thought you were a bit older than that."

I smiled. "Everyone says that." I looked outside the window from where I was. "Ah! Mountains!!" I plastered myself against the window, leaning over Jou.

Jou pressed himself against the back of the seat, his face turning red behind his glasses.

I looked outside the window, at the gorgeous display. It's not a sight I often see, the Tachikawa family is more of the beach sort. We spend more of our vacation time near the ocean.

"Do you like the mountains?" Jou quietly asked.

I admired the blue skies lining the white peaks in the horizon. "I love them!"

"Mmh." Jou turned his head to look outside. "The nicest things in this world are the things left untouched by men."

I sat back in my seat, and looked to him. "Do you go to the mountains a lot?"

"Are you kidding?" Jou snorted. "Twenty minutes into that thin air and allergens throw me into a wheezing fit."

"Oh, how horrible!" ...poor kid. "I'm sorry!"

"You won't hear me complain." Jou folded his arms. "I'd rather stay on sea level than get a sunburn for the sake of proving masculinity."

I nervously smiled at this. "For a kid, you sure talk like a grown up." It was kinda intimidating.

"One of the perks of being the baby of the family, I guess." Jou nervously smiled back.

The bus hit a pot hole in the road, and the kids up front got a bit louder since they naturally felt it first.

The wheel was under the seat in front of us, and when it hit the hole, the kid with the computer mess rested one of his legs in front of everything so it woudln't slide off, and continued typing.

As for us _normal_ kids (or at least remotely normal), we fell forward in our seats. I held onto my murse with both hands, and my face rammed into the seat in front of us.

"Oops!" Jou pulled back back as fast as he could, "Are you okay?"

"You could've caught me a bit earlier..." I held my nose, and some of the things in my purse leaked out onto the floor.

Jou let me go, and bent down to pick up the things that fell on the floor.

"Is it bleeding?" Jou looked up to me as he handed me my things.

I shook my head.

"Good. The correct procedure for nosebleeds is complicated." Jou sat back down next to me again. "It would be difficult on a bus."

I stuffed my things into my bag, and looked back to him. "Do you ever shut up?" I thought.

His concerned and interested face suddenly went blank.

Oh, wait. I said that out loud, didn't I? Eep! Bad Mimi!!

His pale face turned red, and he scowled behind his glasses. "Well, ex-_cuse_ me!!" He folded his arms and faced forward with a glare plastered on his face.

...a word of advice: Think it, don't say it.

We were silent for a good ten minutes, which felt like practically _forever_. I tried closing my eyes, and taking a short nap, but I must've started to lean on Jou next to me, because I was jerked awake once, and I turned to him to see him sending me a deadly glare. I straightened up, and looked down the aisle.

The kids I saw earlier, minus the one with the computer, were in a circle playing a card game.

The boy with the nest of brown hair looked over the heads of the other kids, "Hey, Koushirou! Gonna come out of that thing anytime soon?"

The boy at the computer spoke. "Not today."

Koushirou. Okay. I looked back to the other kids.

"You should know better, Taichi." the blonde boy looked up to the brunette boy. "He'll never be dragged away from that thing."

"You don't know that, Yamato." the red-headed girl with the sorry hat said to the blonde. "He'll probably be sociable once we get to camp."

Taichi sat down. "Deal the cards, Sora."

The girl looked down the aisle, straight at me. I quickly looked away. I didn't want them to think I was in need of company. I looked back to Jou, who was now looking outside.

"Hey! You in the pink!" she called to me. I tried to ignore her, but Jou turned to me, and I jerked back around to the girl. "H-hai?" I peeped.

"D'you play cards?"

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_And that's what I have so far. Ideas? Comments? Love it? Hate it? Questions? Post it in a review. ^^ I won't hurt ya! Also, please visit [Reality Check][1], and join the Jyoumi clique! You don't have to have a webpage to join! Just gotta love Jyoumi!_

_-Mimi_

   [1]: http://mimou.faithweb.com/



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